A review by janetll
Girl Sleuth: Nancy Drew and the Women Who Created Her by Melanie Rehak

3.0

As a child I had found the original Nancy Drews in my grandmother's basement. They had belonged to my aunt and my mother, and I read through them eagerly. When my grandmother died my mother gave me the books, and when my kids, a girl and boy, were probably 6 and 4, or 7 and 5, I began reading the books to them and we went through "all" of the original series, replacing a few that were missing with the "updated" versions.

I really love Nancy Drew, her "skillful" driving, perfection, her knack for finding or receiving the needed clue or confession at just the right time, and even her motherlessness included. The kids and I would remark, "How handy!" when things worked out just right yet again for Nancy.

I guess I didn't love this book about Nancy because it was more about the women who wrote her and the times during which they wrote - which was from the 1930s until the early 2000s and so a huge time period. Still it was enjoyable and informative enough and maybe most importantly it did nothing to diminish my Nancy love.

And I'm saving it for my daughter and my mother, just like the Nancys.